Moondust and Moonlight
by Junebugger
Summary: One year after the Doom Dragon, our heroes get sealed into a hole. But, it was for a good reason...right? Chapter four is up.
1. Calm before the Storm

Hm...I typed this at one o'clock, okay? Forgive me for any miztakes...mistaks...whatever.

Golden Sun III! Just kidding. I present:

Moondust and Moonlight

Chapter One: Calm before the Storm

Right outside New Vale:

One day, nineteen year old Felix was strolling in a forest. He heard some rustling in the bushes. He paused and took a deep breath.

"JENNA! I KNOW YOU ARE THERE! YOU CAN'T FOOL YOUR OLDER BROTHER!" Felix stomped toward the bushes and reached in.

Instead of a red- haired girl, he pulled out a huge ant. He immediately dropped it and reached for the Sol Blade, which he always carried with him. Too late. The ant clicked (or snarled?) and jumped. Felix closed his eyes and braced himself.

KaBOOM! Felix felt a blast of hot air, then…nothing. He warily opened an eye.

"Brother, you really are out of practice. Why didn't you smash it with a Spire or a Quake? What about Odyssey?" Jenna was standing impatiently in front of him, tapping her foot. On the ground, small flames still danced among the charred remains of what used to be an ant.

"I…err…"

"Give up. Come on, let's have dinner."

Inside New Vale, where villagers were trying to rebuild their lives:

Isaac rubbed his eyes and yawned. A small boy came up to him and tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"Yes, Mark?" Isaac looked down patiently.

The boy's big eyes stared up at Isaac, filled with wonder that such an important person would know the name of an insignificant little boy. Isaac still remembered when he also used to be a little boy who could not use Psynergy yet. Now, he was a hero in charge of the rebuilding of his hometown AND in charge of getting rid of monsters AND in charge of Sol Sanctum AND in charge of billion of other tasks. Well, back to Mark.

The boy cleared his throat importantly, conscious of the fact that other children were watching him, awed that he had permission to speak to the great Isaac.

"My mother needs more paint but the shop keeper won't let her since it is so late in the day and they are having dinner even when it is only lettuce and potatoes when are we going to get some real food since I'm hungry for chicken but the chickens all died when…" Isaac let Mark blabber on. His mind started wandering.

The villagers came to him for almost every trivial problem that he knew they could deal with on their own. He wondered how he could get them to quit. At least he had managed to get them to stop calling him Lord Isaac.

"…and now my mother and sisters are sick…" Mark talked on. Isaac tore out a sheet of paper from a notebook that he carried around now. He started writing a note to the stubborn shopkeeper.

"…everyone is getting sick in our neighborhood…" Blab blab blab. Isaac folded the note, wondering when the boy was going to run out of breath.

"…I hope I don't get sick too cause Mother was coughing up blood the other day…oh, you're done with the note okay I'll deliver it bye Lor…I mean Isaac." Mark saluted and marched away proudly.

Isaac gazed blankly after the boy. In the distance he saw Felix and Jenna fooling around. They were getting ready for dinner. They're lucky, he thought. They don't have all these responsibilities the villagers heaped on him. Say, does Jenna look a little sick? He thought that boy, Mark, was saying something about a disease…oh, well. It was probably just the flu.

Isaac sighed and walked inside his own house. First, he had to make dinner. Then, he had to re-plan the village because some men can't measure distances accurately. Next…


	2. Sickness

I typed this chapter at two o'clock. Please try to enjoy. Oh, and I don't own Golden Sun characters. Everyone else has that on there, so I guess I'll put it on too, just in case. I hope you like my little impromptu poem.

Moondust and Moonlight

Chapter Two: Sickness

Early in the morning:

Bang! Isaac and his parent leapt up from the kitchen table, and stared at Felix, who was standing in the doorway. He was breathing heavily, long hair astray. Obviously, he hadn't brushed his hair or cleaned his teeth or washed his face or whatever he did in the mornings. His eyes were wild.

"Isaac…it's my sister. I think… I think…come on!" With that, he turned and rushed out the door. A feeling of dread swept through Isaac as he ran after Felix. _Oh, no, not Jenna…_

They burst through the door of Felix's house. Isaac greeted Felix's worried looking parents, and then followed Felix up the stairs into Jenna's room.

Jenna was pale and drenched with sweat. She stood in the middle of the room, still dressed in her nightgown. Isaac tried to approached, but Felix held him back. "Don't go near, Isaac, she is acting strangely." Isaac tore free of Felix's gripand stood right in front of Jenna's seemingly unseeing eyes.

"Jenna…Jenna…it is me, Isaac."

The girl did not react. But, her eyes flickered upward. There was a strange expression in them.

"Jenna…" Isaac gently reached out.

She suddenly snarled and drew back. A maniacal cackle escaped from her lips and she gestured. Isaac screamed as the floorboards right in front of him burst into flames. Colors swirled and mixed before his eyes, and he accidentally breathed in some fire. It was hot… burning hot… Gentle hands pulled him back and he sighed as a soothing Cure healed him. Felix had to drag a stunned Isaac out of Jenna's room. They left her kneeling on the floor, still cackling. When the door shut, she gradually calmed down, and then resumed her original position, staring blankly into space.

A few hours later:

Felix knocked on Kraden's door. Isaac had sent him here for advice. When it finally creaked open, Felix gasped.

"Is that you, Kraden?" The old scholar had aged forty years in the space of four weeks. And, he wasn't too young to begin with. The white beard almost reached the ground, and the stooped figure had to hold on to his staff with two hands. The most remarkable change, however, was in his eyes. On their long journey, Kraden had been as spirited as a boy, with an interest in everything. His eyes had been bright and filled with life. Now, he was truly an old man.

"I look old, don't I? Yes, I'm Kraden. About time you visited. Come in, I have something very important to tell you." With a pang of regret, Felix remembered that he hadn't visited Kraden even once since they got home. Still blushing, Felix followed Kraden into the dark hut.

"I want to tell you a story…" They settled down and Kraden began.

At the same time:

Isaac sat cross legged on the floor of Felix's home. _Fire…fire…Jenna's eyes, and more fire…_he couldn't stop think about how the girl upstairs had seemed more animal than human. Since then, several other frantic families have come, telling about how some of their loved ones have also gone crazy. Some ofthesick peoplehave been fling things around. Others have been causing earthquakes or making fire, like Jenna. All of them, though, have laughed crazily.

The cackle has something to do with the illness, he thought. If only I can figure it out..._fire…fire…and Jenna's eyes…_stop it. He had to think about the laugh, not the eyes. And yet...

Suddenly, Isaac bolted upright. Jenna's eyes had expressed something ---desperation. That's it! And the evil sounding cackle must be her trying to tell him something! The discovery overwhelmed him, and Isaac closed his eyes to clear his mind.

_On the floor a girl sat, in the middle of her room._

_She crawled to the the window and looked up at the moon._

_The moondust settled around her and she raised her head and screamed._

_The moonlight danced upon her and washed away her dreams._

What? Isaac opened his eyes and tried to make sense of the images he just saw. When his brain started hurting again, he gave up.He had better wait until Felix came back. Sighing, he settled against the wall. As he waited, the red sun sank beneath the horizon and the white moon rose. A strange white dust drifted through the kitchen window and surrounded Isaac. In a few moments, he was asleep. Then, the moonlight started its work.

After Kraden's storytime:

Felix trudged wearily back home. Kraden's story made very little sense. Well, he hadn't really listened. All he knew was that he and Isaac should set out together to find a cure, and the moon is connected to this illness somehow.

He opened the door, to find Isaac dozing in the kitchen. He bent down and touched Isaac's shoulder. "Hey, sleepy, wake up! We have to go find a cure. We're going on another journey!"

Isaac moaned and stood up. He stumbled and almost fell over. Then, his eyes slowly opened with a strange look in them. Felix backed away, horrified. When the all-too-familiar cackling and the earthquakes began, he turned and ran.


	3. Happy Meetings?

Ah, poor Felix. Now that Isaac is down for the count, he has to find the cure all by his lonesome. But for now, let's see what has befallen the beautiful Sheba and her good companion Piers. Shall we?

Moondust and Moonlight

Chapter Three: Happy Meetings?

A hundred miles east of New Vale:

Piers whistled cheerfully as he traveled through the forest. After four weeks of idleness at New Vale, at last, he was going home! Lemuria! Lemuria! The name sang sweetly in his homesick ears. What's more, he was traveling with the gorgeous, sweet, golden-haired Sheba!

Behind Piers, Sheba trudged silently. She missed her friends, especially Jenna, and hated leaving the cozy village of New Vale. But she too was homesick for her hometown of Lalivero, and how could she refuse Pier's plea for her to accompany him? Sheba blushed, remembering the wild happiness that had shone out of his eyes when she agreed.

So absorbed they were in their own thought, they did not notice the threatening shadows slowly surrounding them.

Still whistling, Piers turned to check on Sheba. He gasped, and then held up his hand. A great block of ice rose up from the ground and engulfed a man with a raised sword. Sheba whirled around and coolly regarded the ice sculpture. She turned back to her companion.

"Thank you, Piers. Let me repay you." Sheba gestured with her staff and a strong wind blew away a man who had been about to stab Piers.

There was no time to thank her. The two adepts stood back to back. As Piers parried blow after blow with his sword, he felt himself beginning to weaken. He gulped. _Wow, I've grown soft living in New Vale. I used to be able to fight for days without rest. Better end this quickly._ He focused inward, reaching for Psynergy. When he was ready, he raised his hand and shouted, "Diamond Berg!"

Instead of the huge, freezing mountain that was supposed to appear, only a few flakes of ice materialized, then instantly melted. Piers was stunned. His voice trembled.

"Sheba, I think I have run out of Psynergy already."

"What! Wait, let me try."

Piers felt Sheba tense as she concentrated. She whispered, "Tempest."

There was a gentle breeze…then nothing.

The two adepts gulped and fought on, knowing they were vastly outnumbered, but determined to take as many as they could down with them.

Okay now, let's skip back to Felix. This is a couple of days after he ran away from New Vale, and it is getting dark:

The earth adept wandered around the countryside, not really knowing what he was searching for. Mostly he was concerned with staying alive.

Several times he had encountered monsters, and each time he had emerged lucky to be alive. Either they had grown much stronger, or he had diminished in skill. Why, when he first set out from New Vale, he could barely do the basic Cure and Quake. Jenna had been the only one who had kept on using her battle psynergy regularly, and she was...

Felix bit his tongue to stop tears from spilling out. He had to be strong to save Jenna, to save Isaac, to save the whole town. It didn't matter if he felt strong or not, he just had to appear strong, even when he was alone. You never know what might be watching you.

He noticed a glow peeping through the darkness ahead. His loping stride shifted to a slower, but more cautious, cat-like pace. A fire isn't necessarily friendly.

He crouched as close to the fire as he dared. About fifty grimy bandits were sitting dully around the clearing. It was strangely silent, with none of the horsing around bandits usually do. They just sat there, staring into the fire. Felix suspiciously edged closer.

And promptly stepped on someone's hand.

"Oomph!" There was a muffled cry of pain. Felix recognized the voice.

"Piers? What the-"

"Mmph mm mu phoomph!" Felix glanced down and saw a gagged and tied Piers lying half hidden under a bunch of leaves.

Felix untied Pier's bonds as quickly as possible. "You and Sheba left weeks ago! What are you doing here so close to New Vale? And where is Sheba?"

Piers grimaced and rubbed his wrists where the ropes had been. "Not so loud, Felix. And not so many questions. I'll tell you after we've rescued Sheba." With that, he set off toward the opposite side of the camp, Felix hot on his heels.

They stole past the staring men. Felix was reminded of how his sister had stared when no one was too close to her. Had the same sickness struck this group of bandits? Perhaps. If so, they must get away from here quickly!

Piers suddenly tripped and Felix fell over his friend. They both rolled for a while, then just laid there, straining their ears to find out if anyone had heard them. Some bandits shifted, but the majority didn't move at all. They breathed sighs of relief, and Piers crawled over to Felix.

"Whew, I think no one heard us. We better keep going. Sorry."

"It's okay. Let's just save Sheba."

Actually, someone had heard them. When they had fallen,a single bandit had robotically picked himself up and climbed up a tree with long, thick, and sturdy arms. He laid on a branch and watched the sleeping golden-haired girl with unblinking eyes.

He watched while the blue-haired man woke up the girl and his companion freed her. He watched while they conversed for a while. He was still watching when they ran off into the darkness. Well, actually, someone else far away watched through his eyes.

After the trio had been gone for a few seconds, he jumped off the tree and landed lightly. As if on cue, half of his companions rose and sped off, each following his own way of running, yet staying strangely in-sync. All of them headed unerringly toward the way the three adepts had gone. All of them knew where to go, despite the fact that this was all done without a single word between them.

Far away, someone chuckled. A hunt is never exciting if you don't give the prey a small chance to escape.


	4. The Hole

This story has been getting weirder and weirder. But isn't that what makes it interesting? Here is:

Moondust and Moonlight

Chapter Four: The Hole

_Once upon a time in the world of Weyard, there was a great power called Alchemy. This power enabled any man to do anything, such as turn lead into gold. Thus many great civilizations arose because of Alchemy. However, some wicked men started misusing it, so some great heroes risked their lived to seal some of it up. _

_Only four of the six Great Elements remained to stop Weyard from falling apart. Of course, these elements alone could not so the job. The world slowly, but surely, started dying._

_Until eight heroes, led by Isaac, arose and broke the seal on Alchemy. As soon as the remaining two elements were free, Weyard revived._

_And thousands of people discovered they were adepts. New kinds of adepts..._

In the middle of nowhere:

Felix woke up. For the past few nights, he had been having that dream. He shook his head and stared at his sleeping companions for a few minutes before he realized where he was. Yes, now he remembered. He had rescued Sheba and Piers from those weird bandits, and then they had run away as fast as they could. They had barely found a good place to rest before all three of them conked out.

For some reason, Felix kept feeling chills running up and down his spine. It felt like someone was staring at him. He slowly sat up and lit a fire, and then suspiciously scanned the trees around him. Nothing. He tried to relax, but there was just something that didn't seem right. Then he heard a _whoosh_, and glanced up.

A steady stream of silver particles was floating from the moon toward their camp. For some reason, Felix felt deathly afraid and grabbed at Psynergy. He did something with it---- he wasn't sure what--- and the earth started rumbling. Felix tried to stop, but once Psynergy was released, there was no way to call it back.

Cracks in the ground traced a circle around them. The circle began sinking into the ground. Felix watched in amazement as earthen walls seemed to magically rise around them. Slowly, they sank, creating a hole in the ground. But, the moondust could still reach them. Then, tendrils of dirt reached out from the edge of the pit, slowly forming a ceiling, making the opening smaller… and smaller… and smaller. They were going to be sealed underground!

As if it could sense that someone was attempting to ward them off, the moondust came faster. _No! _Felix frantically jumped up, and his legs immediately gave away. He laid on the ground, feeling as if he had just ran a thousand miles. _Oh, crud, too much Psynergy…_

The hole closed, but a single speck of moondust managed to make its way inside the pit. Felix watched it warily, half fascinated, half terrified, as it floated toward the fire. The speck seemed alive as it drifted around the flames, as if it was inspecting it. On an impulse, Felix puffed out his cheeks and blew it into the fire.

Boom! The explosion knocked him against the wall of the pit and he coughed in the thick smoke. He heard Sheba scream and Piers yell something…then he was soaked in a downpour of water.

He groaned. "Piers!"

Piers, who was the only dry object in the pit, blinked sleepily. "Huh?"

"You just made us all wet!"

"I put out a fire. Right?" Piers didn't seem very clear about what he had just done. Well, Felix wasn't either.

"Oh, never mind," Felix glanced up. "Um, guys, we're sort of trapped in a cave."

Sheba gently pushed a yawning Piers off the only patch of dry land and lit a second fire in his place. As the three gathered around the fire's warmth, Felix told about what he had just seen.


	5. Free But Hungry

Wow, it's been a long time. I've been too busy to write...but at last, here is the fifth chapter of Moondust and Moonlight!

In the hole:

Piers grunted. Why did he have to be so tall and strong looking? Whenever they performed aerobic stunts, he just **always** had to be on the bottom, supporting the pyramid.

Standing on the blue-haired man's shoulders, was Felix. He in turn supported Sheba, who was slowly, but surely using a stick to clear a hole in the earthen ceiling.

"Argh, Felix, why can't you use Psynergy?" Piers grunted and shifted.

Sheba almost fell from her high perch. "Ah! Be still down there!" Piers blushed and froze. He'd do anything for his beautiful Sheba.

Felix shook his head at his lovesick friend. "I told you, I'm **exhausted**!" As if to illustrate his point, he sighed and hunched his shoulders, causing Sheba to waver again.

"GAH! Do you want to kill me? Hold still!"

Piers glared at Felix. How dare he anger his wonderful Sheba!

Felix sighed. Young love...

Suddenly, the earthen ceiling cracked, and a piercing bolt of sunlight fell through. All three friends cheered. After a little while, they were finally all back on top of earth again.

"Ahh, the wind!" Sheba laughed cheerfully.

"Ahh, lovely Sheba...I mean...water..." Piers blushed.

Felix shaded his eyes and looked around. "No enemies!" Then his stomach growled.

Pier's stomach echoed, and soon after, Sheba's too.

"We need food!"


End file.
